As commonly known in the art, to construct a female electrical connector, an electrical female terminal or a plurality of electrical female terminals (hereinafter referred to as “female terminal” or “female terminals”) are inserted into a plastic female connector housing. The female terminal has a spring element to maintain proper contact, and a box protecting the spring from over-deformation. The female terminals in the connector housing are securely retained therein by a separate plastic part, commonly referred to as a TPA. In the industry, TPA means terminal position assurance. Also, a primary lock in addition to the TPA might also be used to further securely retain the female terminal or female terminals in the plastic female connector housing.
Generally, there are two different types of TPA's currently being used in the industry today. One is a front-type TPA and the other is a side-type TPA. For the front-type TPA, a lance mounted within the female connector housing in a terminal insertion direction engages a back portion of the female terminal while the front-type TPA is inserted into the female connector housing from the front of the female connector housing. In other words, the lance and the front-type TPA extend parallel to the terminal insertion direction. The lance acts as a primary lock while the front-type TPA acts as a secondary lock to prevent the lance from deflecting.
The side-type TPA is inserted into the female connector housing from a side perpendicular to the terminal insertion direction. The lance engages with the female terminal at approximately the middle of its terminal box and the side-type TPA engages the back portion of the female terminal. The lance acts as the primary lock and the side-type TPA acts as the secondary lock.
As a result of having a front-type TPA and a side-type TPA, different designs of the female terminals are required to accommodate each TPA type. Having two different TPA types and thus having two different types of female terminal increases manufacturing cost
Also, a conventional female terminal has an orientation feature to prevent the female terminal from being inserted into the female connector housing in a wrong orientation. Such orientation feature is usually a protrusion over a wall of the terminal box of the female terminal. In manufacturing, often a corner of the terminal box of the female terminal is cut off. However, when a water-proof female terminal is required, the female terminal is inserted into a rubber seal. This style of the orientation feature might concentrate a strain on the rubber seal.
It would be beneficial to provide a female terminal of a single design that can accommodate both a female connector housing employing the front-type TPA design and a female connector housing employing the side-type TPA design. Also, it would be advantageous to provide a female terminal with an orientation feature that would not concentrate a strain on a water-proofing rubber seal.